Cooking and Dining

In the Middle Ages, the kitchen was the center of every house. It also served as a living room, where people gathered to enjoy the heat of the oven together. Towards the end of the 18th century, it became increasingly practical to heat the other rooms as well - which resulted in the kitchen once again serving a purely functional purpose.

The homes of the genteel middle classes, such as that of the Salzmann Family, our host in the Salzburg wax museum, continued to boast generous dimensions in the 18th century. After all, the numerous cooks and household servants had to all find room to do their work here at the same time. The model of a kitchen and the wax figures of the Salzburg wax museum illustrate what things were like in the kitchens of the day.

When it comes to recipes and flavour experimentation, 18th-century cuisine is beyond our comprehension. The cooks would come up with ever-new creations to please their demanding guests. Nevertheless: the cooks had to make do with whatever nature happened to offer them at the time, since the long time required for transportation rarely allowed for the importation of foods from distant countries. Beyond doubt, the main form of nutrition in the 18th century was bread - particularly in the lower strata of society.